Gluten Free Diet Guide

The Gluten-Free Diet simply means not eating food that is made from the grains of wheat, barley, rye, and oats. These grains contain a plant protein called gluten, and it is this gluten that must be strictly excluded from the “gluten-free diet”. The gluten in the above grains is made up of specific arrangements of amino acids that can harm the body. While a few other grains have “gluten” in them, like corn, they are not harmful because their amino acids are different.

Even small quantities of gluten from wheat, barley, rye, and oats are harmful, preventing remission or inducing relapse.

The strict definition of a gluten-free diet remains controversial due to the lack of an accurate method to detect gluten in food products and the lack of scientific evidence for what constitutes a safe amount of gluten ingestion. Therefore, a zero tolerance approach to gluten ingestion is prudent.1

Food that is not made with gluten from wheat, barley, rye, and oats as an ingredient may be safely eaten. Foods that are ordinarily made with gluten, such as pasta and bread, are replaced with those that are gluten-free. Read more…GF Food Substitutes.

Q. Who should follow this diet?
A. People who want to restrict gluten and people who need to restrict gluten.

If you feel sluggish, irritable, or your thinking isn’t up to par, try this diet. You will begin to feel better within a week. That tired, heavy feeling will give way to a feeling of lightness and energy. Soon you will regain interest, mental alertness, and concentration. In a short while, you will want to be active, do things and go places. Yes…exercise!

If you have gained unwanted weight, especially around the waist, back, and face, try this diet. It is typical to lose about 5 pounds the first week. Some of this loss is water because gluten causes fluid retention in many people.

If you do feel better during the first or second week, contact your doctor and ask him or her about celiac disease – this is a serious condition. Yo-yoing the gluten-free diet if you have celiac disease can be detrimental to your health so it’s best to find out.

2. Those who need to follow this diet.

The Gluten Free Diet is the essential and only treatment for people with any form of Gluten Sensitivity Reaction, particularly Celiac Disease (CD) and Dermatitis Herpetiformis (DH). Autism, autoimmune disorders, and many other disorders may improve.Read more…Symptoms.

Q. What must I do?
A. This diet is simple and rewarding, but can be challenging. Removing gluten from the diet involves more than simply not eating bread, pasta, baked goods, pizza, and cereal. It requires us to learn how to recognize all foods with gluten, called “unsafe” foods, in order to strictly avoid eating them. Gluten-free food is called “safe” food. There can be no cheating. Only 1/8th of a teaspoon of flour can cause new intestinal damage in people with Celiac Disease and Dermatitis Herpetiformis.

Q. Is there anything else?
A. Yes. Cane sugar, which is sucrose, should be used with caution because it is poorly digested by a damaged small intestine, causing digestive disturbances, such as bloating, pain, and bowel changes. This situation may produce loss of normal bacteria populations needed for bowel health and encourage overgrowth of pathogenic bacteria and yeast (Candida Albicans). What’s more, sucrose (undigested sugar) can abnormally enter the bloodstream through a “leaky gut.” Leakiness can happen to anyone given the right circumstances, and always happens to celiacs with or without intestinal damage. Studies have not yet been done to determine the effect of sucrose in the blood.

In addition, Lactose Intolerance is common in Celiac Disease. Undigested lactose (milk sugar) in milk causes bloating, pain, and diarrhea in affected people. Only milk and milk products that have been lactose-reduced should be used until normal lactase production in the small intestines resumes.

Food Safety

The following three sections can lay the foundation that will enable you to protect your health and enjoy your life:

To use the above information for constructing a gluten-free diet, we need to understand how the unsafe grains are actually used in making food. Then we can avoid them and replace them with safe foods.

Q. How are unsafe grains used in food?A. The chart below shows various ways that unsafe grains may be used as ingredients in foods. Whether making our own food, buying it at a store or restaurant, or eating food made by someone else, we must learn how to look for and recognize suspect food in order to avoid eating gluten.

Q. What foods can I eat on a gluten-free diet?
A. There is a vast world of safe food out there waiting to be discovered. Most of us who have a problem with gluten, developed it because we have been eating a great amount of it every day. If you find your diet loaded with hoagies, pizza, pasta, and doughnuts, it’s time to get out of the rut. Overhaul your diet with fruits, vegetables, safe grains, and legumes. Read more…GF Food Substitutes.

The comparison chart below shows examples of foods that can be safely eaten and those that must be strictly avoided. For more detailed information, discuss gluten-free choices with a health care specialist or dietitian skilled in this diet.

Foods Allowed/Not Allowed

*Plain means no gluten ingredients are added to the food.
**Commercially prepared means the product is made by a company for the purpose of selling it.

Commercially prepared **creamed vegetables and vegetables in sauce thickened with flour.
Vegetables with regular bread crumbs or battered and fried;
salads with croutons or with dressing thickened using flour or oat gum.

Commercially prepared** meat, fish, seafood, and fowl or other bird, such as are breaded/ battered (fried), blended, or injected with solution (as in turkeys/chickens/hams).
Any of the following that use gluten-containing fillers: cold cuts, hotdogs, scrapple, meat loaf, sausage, meatballs, meat patties; canned meat, fish, poultry, or seafood using hydrolyzed vegetable protein.
Imitation crab, other meat using wheat gluten or seitan.

Cheese product thickened or stabilized with oat gum or wheat starch, such as spread/ sauce for nachos or macaroni. Some veined cheeses aged with moldy bread, such as bleu cheese, stilton, Roquefort, and gorgonzola.

Buckwheat pancakes made with flour. Regular pancakes, waffles, and crepes.

Cereals

All plain* cereals made from safe foods, such as rice, corn, buckwheat, millet, and amaranth, and are not coated with malt or malt flavoring.

Regular cereal made from wheat, rye, barley, and oats such as wheat flakes, wheat puffs, shredded wheat, wheat germ, cream of wheat, and oatmeal.
Any cold cereals coated with malt syrup or malt flavoring to keep them crisp, including safe grains such as crispy rice or corn flakes.
Granolas, muesli, and kashi.

Soups

Homemade broth and soup, and stew using safe ingredients and thickened with cornstarch.

Most canned and dry mix soups and stews. Boullion and boullion cubes using hydrolyzed wheat protein.

Legumes

Plain* beans, peas, lentils, chickpeas, peanuts, and soybeans.

Any made with unsafe ingredients such as baked beans thickened with flour or oat gum, coated or blended with breadcrumbs, or flavored with soy sauce or malt syrup/ flavoring.

Commercially prepared** candies dusted with flour to keep from sticking, fillings thickened with flour, wafers and other cereal parts made from unsafe grains, and addition of oats or oat gum or malt flavoring/ syrup. Twizzler’s red licorice and Goetz’s Cow Tales are examples using wheat flour.
Some gum drops, and some chewing gum.

Deli or salad bar foods

Plain* salads/ vegetables without croutons or breadcrumbs.
Caution: may be contaminated by use of utensils used for unsafe foods or by spillage onto them.

Q. Is distilled white vinegar gluten-free?
A. Traditionally, vinegar derived from wheat, barley or rye was not allowed in the gluten-free diet. Concern about this continues because on one side sensitive celiacs continue to report abdominal symptoms when they ingest this vinegar or products made from them.

On the other side, the distillation process is said to make the inclusion of gluten (peptides) in vinegar not physically possible. Research we are able to locate to date is limited to a Flemish study and a Dutch study that appear inconclusive because, admittedly, the methodology for testing was not designed to detect “small (but still toxic) peptides” that have recently been discovered.

White vinegar can be manufactured from corn, potato, rice, barley or wheat. Corn derived vinegar is the most widely used vinegar in manufacture of food in the USA. For those of us who react to white vinegar derived from wheat, barley or rye, the FDA advised us that if the vinegar is derived from wheat, it must declare this on the label according to the Allergen Labeling Act effective 1/2006. This would not apply to barley or rye, so the only way to be sure is to contact the manufacturer of the product.

Q. Are there other sources of gluten I should know about?
A. Yes. There are “hidden sources” because you wouldn’t ordinarily suspect them. Gluten, usually as starch, modified food starch, or hydrolized vegetable protein (HVP), may be used in the following:
Medications
Chapstick
Lipstick
Shampoo and other hair care products like hairspray and mousse
Body care products
Vitamin and mineral supplements
Glue on stamps and envelopes
Playdough (toy for children)

2. Buying Safe Food

Q. What do I need to do?
A. Take an inventory of the food you already have, make a food list to take shopping, read every package label on the items you pick at the store, and develop a routine for shopping.

1. Take inventory. Before shopping, check the pantry and refrigerator first to see what safe food you already have. Remove all items that are unsafe and clean the surfaces. Flour is like dust. It can get into everything. The objective is to prevent contaminating restocked safe food in your own house.

If you must share space with someone not on the GF Diet, put your safe foods in a separate cupboard. In the fridge, put your food in containers or on separate shelves above unsafe foods to avoid contamination.

3. Read the ingredient list on every food package label every time. There is no better way to find out what’s in the package before buying. Look for the word “gluten” or anything derived from wheat, rye, barley, and oats shown in Chart 1.2 “UNSAFE GRAINS AS INGREDIENTS” above.

Note: foods that say “wheat-free” may, in fact, contain one of the other gluten-containing grains. If in doubt, call or e-mail the manufacturer to confirm product is gluten-free. Some people use their cell phones to call the manufacturer while in the store. Don’t be shy.

Manufacturers are required under the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) regulations to provide consumers the advantage of knowing what is in commercially prepared food by means of an ingredient list on the food label. Here’s their information:

The ingredient list on a food label is the listing of each ingredient in descending order of predominance by weight. That is, the ingredient that weighs the most is listed first and the ingredient that weighs least is listed last. The list is found on the same panel as the name and address of the manufacturer, packer, or distributor.

For example, Ingredients: Pinto beans, Water, and Salt.

A trace ingredient is only required to be listed if it is present in significant amounts and has a function in the finished product. If a substance is an incidental additive and has no function or technical effect in the finished product, then it need not be declared on the label. An incidental additive is usually present because it is an ingredient of another ingredient. Sulphites are considered to be incidental only if present at less than 10 parts per million.3

As of January 2006, the “Food Allergen Labeling and Consumer Act of 2003” requires food manufacturers of food sold in the United States to clearly state in “plain English” on the packaging if the product contains wheat (and eggs, fish, shellfish, peanuts, soybeans, and tree nuts). Small amounts of such ingredients as colorings, flavorings, and seasonings are included. It does not require declaring of gluten, barley, rye, or oats. It does require the FDA to develop rules for “gluten-free.”

4.Develop a grocery store routine. First, buy all the whole foods you normally choose that do not have gluten, then read package labels on prepared foods you might want. Unless marked on the package as “gluten-free.” Question buckwheat, amaranth, millet, quinoa, and teff. These are naturally safe foods that can be contaminated at the farm, at the mill, and at the packaging plant.

Prepared meats such as hams, bacon, sausages, and hotdogs can be safe or not…look for no sugar or filler.

Investigate deli meats carefully…ask to see the ingredient list. Do not chance any of the open salads or dips here… even if they might be safe otherwise, they are sure to
be contaminated by unsafe foods.

Buy some GF cookbooks or use our online recipes for ideas…go to Recipes.

Double or triple the recipe then freeze for other meals or use for lunches to save time and money.

4. Don’t make an issue of being different and make safe food for the whole family. After all,
rice pasta tastes and looks like regular pasta. You’re family will feel better, too.

5. A child’s school lunch is safest when packed at home and when the child fully understands
why only safe food may be eaten. Nevertheless, you have a right to expect availability of safe
food at the cafeteria.

6. When traveling, always pack some safe food. It’s a good idea to keep some nutritional
bars and snacks in the glove compartment for emergencies.

7. When eating out, always ask to speak to the manager to tell him you need GF food.

Get to know restaurants with a GF menu or that understand “gluten-free”.

Call ahead whenever possible to ascertain the likelihood of food safety. If the restaurant uses prepared sauces or dishes they do not make from scratch, try another place.

Avoid deep fried foods – even if they have a safe coating (unlikely), they are certain to be cooked in the same deep fat cooker as unsafe breaded/ battered food, unless the fryer is used only for safe foods. [Deep fried foods are usually very unhealthy due to transfats and high calories.]

A dedicated fryer used only for French fries, for example, would be safe provided the fries were cut at the restaurant. Commercial frozen fries and potatoes cannot be trusted.

The same goes for grilled. Always ask if anything other than safe foods like steak is cooked on the grill to ascertain if the grill surface is safe.

Soups, stews, and casserole dishes cannot be trusted unless the cook guarantees all ingredients are safe.

Rather, choose plain cooked or sauteed foods made to order. Ask for seasonings like olive oil, butter, or apple cider, rice, or wine vinegar if you like.